Member-only story
We’re at a Cultural Tipping Point Around Caregiving and Ambition
An honest conversation for ambitious women tired of being told to “balance better.”
4 min readMay 2, 2025
They used to say, “That’s just the cost of doing business.” But these days, I find myself thinking, “Maybe that’s just the cost of having kids.”
It’s real.
It’s sometimes staggering.
And it’s not just financial — it’s emotional, physical, mental, logistical:
Healthcare premiums, after-school care, sports and activities that jump $200/month every time your children level up, and weekly groceries that cost more than your first car payment.
If you’re a working parent, you’ve accepted business costs as expected and legitimate, while family costs still feel emotionally loaded, personal, or like a failure to manage better. That’s systemic pressure for which you don’t have updated language (yet).
